Electric shaver having angled blades adapted to be inserted in corresponding angled slots in a blade supporting member



Dec. 28, 1965 N. OWENS 3,225,440

ELECTRIC SHAVER HAVING ANGLED BLADES ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED INCORRESPONDING ANGLED SLOTS IN A BLADE SUPPORTING MEMBER Filed Sept. 19,1963 5 Sheets-Sheet l 3| 29 a gVdAVA m 741552122121 2? I 4P 4VAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAA z i AV AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVBVA l AVJVAVAVAVAVAVDV w awnAVA uvavnvAvnn m mu 32 VAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV AVAVAVAVA AVAVAVAVAVAVAV2| 1 I 2 INVENTOR N EAL OWEN S N. OWENS Dec. 28, 1965 ELECTRIC SHAVERHAVING ANGLED BLADES ADAPI'ED TO BE INSERTED IN CORRESPONDING ANGLEDSLOTS IN A BLADE SUPPORTING MEMBER Filed Sept. 19, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR NEAL OWENS 4 VAV A Dec. 28, 1965 N. OWENS 3,225,440

ELECTRIC SHAVER HAVING ANGLED BLADES ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED INCORRESPONDING ANGLED SLOTS IN A BLADE SUPPORTING MEMBER Filed Sept. 19,1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR 1y, 7 NEAL OWENS United States Patent3,225,440 ELECTRIC SHAVER HAVING ANGLED BLADES ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED INCORRESIOND- ING ANGLED SLOTS IN A BLADE SUPPORTING MEMBER Neal Owens,2223 Carondelet St., New Orleans, La. Filed Sept. 19, 1963, Ser. No.310,084 3 Claims. (Cl. 30-43.4)

This invention relates in general to electric shavers and moreparticularly to an electric shaver having a unique comb and bladearrangement.

Many types and sizes of electric shavers are available commercially atthe present time. All of these razors have various types of comb andblade arrangements. In an effort to obtain optimum shaving results manyof these razors have complicated mechanisms such as shaft gearing and/or spring arrangements to assure proper contact of the blade with thecomb. Not only do these arrangements increase the cost of the completeddevice but they also increase the possibility of improper operation dueto damage or breakage of these parts.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an electricshaver having a minimum number of parts, thus providing an economicaland simplified construction technique.

A further object of this invention is to provide an electric shaveremploying a substantially hemispherical comb.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an electricalshaver having a substantially hemispherical comb having angled slotstherein, and angled blades corresponding to the angled slots in saidcomb with cutting edges of substantially the same curvature as the comb.

Another object of this invention is to provide an electric razor whereinthe contact between the blade and the comb is obtained by means of thecentrifugal force developed by the rotation of the motor shaft.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a comb having aunique aperture arrangement.

These and other objects will become obvious from the followingdescription when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the assembled device;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the cutter head;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the cutter blade arrangement;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the comb;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view illustrating a preferred arrangement of theapertures of the comb;

FIG. 7 is a partial view of a modified means for securing the comb tothe body of the device; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 88 of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are sectional views of two modifications of the cuttingblade which may be used.

Turning now more specifically to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustratea housing 11 which may be formed of plastic material and may have agripping contour 13 thereon. At the bottom of the housing is a reducedsection 15 through which the electrical cord 17 may pass. In order tofirmly secure the cord to the housing a plug 19 may be threadablysecured within the reduced section 15.

A comb 21 is secured within an annular ring 23 which is threaded on itsinterior circumference in order that it may be secured to the upper partof the housing 11.

FIG. 2 illustrates the device during operation wherein 3,225,440-Patented Dec. 28, 1965 the blades 25 and 27 are in contact with theinner surface of the comb 21.

A small electrical motor 43 is secured within the housing 11 and restson the lip 41 within the lower part of the housing. A plug 47 isthreadably inserted within the upper part of the housing and contactsthe upper part of the electrical motor 43. A retaining plate 51 isfitted over the upper edge of the housing 11 and may be secured to theplug 47 by means of a screw 53. Additionally, a screw 55 may be used tosecure the plug and retainer plate to the motor 43. Electric motor shaft49 extends upwardly from the motor 43 and through a borehole in the plug47.

A blade supporting member, which may be made of material such asplastic, is firmly secured to the shaft 49 by means such as a press fitso that it will rotate with I the shaft. The blade supporting member asillustrated is of a solid hemispherical shape and, as shown more clearlyin FIG. 3, has two inwardly extending opposed slots 33, 35 whichterminate short of the motor shaft 49. Additionally, each of the slots33, 35 has an interconnecting slotted leg 37 and 39, respectively,extending at substantially right angles thereto. The lower inner edge ofslots 33, 35 terminates above the bottom of the hemispherical bladesupporting member as more clearly shown in FIG. 2.

Blades 25 and 27 are designed so as to have a configurationsubstantially identical to the slots 33, 35 of the blade supportingmember 32. These blades, as shown in FIG. 4, have a width less than thewidth of the slots in the blade supporting member so that they are freeto move within these slots. The legs 29 and 31 of the blades 25 and 27match the extension slots 37 and 39 of the slots 33 and 35 of the bladesupporting member. The respective distances from the inner edges of thecutter blades 25 and 27 to their cutting edges 26 and 28 are less thanthe distance between the inner edges of the slots 33 and 35 to the innersurface of the comb. Therefore, when the motor 43 is not rotating theshaft 49, the blades will sit on the bottom surface of the slots.However, when the motor 43 rotates shaft 49, the blades are forcedoutwardly and upwardly in the slots and contact the inner surface of thecomb 21. The use of the legs 29 and 31 of the cutter blades enables theblades to move outwardly in a direction so that the entire cuttingsurface contacts the comb at substantially the same time, thus avoidingexcessive wear on any particular point of the cutting edge.

FIG. 5 shows a plan view of one arrangement of the apertures 57 withinthe hemispherical comb 21 which view is intended to be merelyillustrative.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a preferred aperture arrangement. Asillustrated, the apertures are triangular, and adjacent rows arealternately inverted. The preferred relative distances are alsoindicated on FIG. 6 wherein the distance between adjacent horizontalapertures A is substantially equal to the distance A between adjacenthorizontal apertures. It is also found to be preferable that the sides Bof the triangle be equal, thus providing substantially an equilateraltriangle.

These dimensions will, of course, depend upon the actual size of theshaver. Suitable dimensions for a shaver measuring four inches from thebase of the housing 11 to the top of comb 21, with a comb diameter of 15 inches have been found to be of an inch for dimension A and .027 of aninch for dimension B.

FIG. 7 shows a modified construction technique for maintaining the combin firm contact with the housing 101. In this case, the retaining plate103, which is secured to the housing by means of screw 111 in a mannersimilar to that illustrated in FIG. 2, is extended outwardly from thehousing 101. The lower edge of the circumferential comb 105 is dimpledoutwardly as at 107 and also has a plurality of slits 110 so as toprovide a spring action. Therefore, the comb 105 may be press fit ontoplate 103 and held there by the spring action of the comb itself.

FIG. 8 is a sectional View taken. along lines 88 of FIG. 4 andillustrates one type of blade which may be used while FIGS. 9 andillustrate various modifications of the cutter blade. These bladescreate the shearing action in conjunction with the apertures of the combas shown in FIG. 6 and may have a pointed edge 123 of FIG. 8 or a moreflattened edge 133 of FIG. 9 and even may have the rounded cutting edge143 as shown in FIG. 10. The blades as illustrated in these figures arerotating to the right as seen in the drawings.

As will now be obvious the device of the present invention haseliminated all gearing and needs no spring mechanism to maintain theblade in contact with the comb. This structure reduces the number ofparts required to a minimum. In so doing, it obviously reduces therequired size of the overall shaver to a minimum, thus. providing a verycompact and eflicient device.

Various modifications of the invention will now be apparent. The actualslot configuration within the blade supporting member may be varied solong as the configuration of the blades substantially matches the slotstherein. The particular housing and motor mounting may also be variedwithin the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the description anddrawings are to be considered to be illustrative only and in no waylimitative of the device as claimed.

I claim:

1. A shaving device comprising a housing, an electrical motor mountedwithin said housing, a shaft connected to said motor and extendingoutwardly from one end of said housing, a solid substantiallyhemispherical blade supporting member mounted on said shaft, a pluralityof arcuate slots in said blade supporting member extending from theperiphery of said member inwardly towards the axis of said shaft, asubstantially hemispherical comb having a plurality of apertures thereinsecured to said one end of said housing, the radius of said comb beinggreater than the radius of said blade supporting member, a blade havingan arcuate cutting edge slidably positioned within each of said slots,the cutting edge of said blades having a curvature substantially equalto the curvature of said comb and being spaced therefrom when said bladeis resting in said slot, and a continuation of each of said slots atsubstantially right angles thereto, said continuation beingsubstantially parallel to the axis of said shaft, and an extensionconnected to each of said blades which conforms to the configuration ofsaid continuation of each of said slots.

2. A shaving device comprising a housing, an electric motor enclosed insaid housing, a shaft coupled to said motor and extending outwardly fromone end of said housing, a blade supporting member secured to saidshaft, a plurality of retaining slots in said blade supporting member,each of said slots being in a plane through the axis of said shaft andterminating short thereof, a substantially semicircular comb includingapertures therethrough secured to said one end of said housing andextending beyond said blade supporting member, a blade slidably fittedwithin each of said slots, said blades having an outer arcuate cuttingedge of substantially the same curvature as said comb and an inner edgeconforming to the inner configuration of said slot, the distance betweensaid termination of said slot and said comb being greater than thedistance between said inner edge of said blade and said comb, and asecond slot extending from each of said retaining slots, said secondslots being substantially parallel to said axis of said shaft, and anextension to the inner edge of each of said blades conforming to theconfiguration of said second slots.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said hemispherical comb is flexible andis removably press fit onto said housing.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,280,836 4/1942Moskovics et al. 3043.2 X 2,291,852 8/ 1942 Weatherford 3043.6 2,348,8925/1944 Flickinger 30-436 2,365,368 12/1944 Verschuyl 3043.6 2,508,5705/1950 Graves 3043.6 3,143,797 8/1964 Shoemaker 3043.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,034,511 10/1957 Germany.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MYRON C. KRUSE, Examiner.

1. A SHAVING DEVICE COMPRISING A HOUSING, AN ELECTRICAL MOTOR MOUNTEDWITHIN SAID HOUSING, A SHAFT CONNECTED TO SAID MOTOR AND EXTENDINGOUTWARDLY FROM ONE END OF SAID HOUSING, A SOLID SUBSTANTIALLYHEMISPHERICAL BLADE SUPPORTING MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, A PLURALITYOF ARCUATE SLOTS IN SAID BLADE SUPPORTING MEMBER EXTENDING FROM THEPERIPHERY OF SAID MEMBER INWARDLY TOWARDS THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT, ASUBSTANTIALLY HEMISPHERICAL COMB HAVING A PLURALITY OF APERTURES THEREINSECURED TO SAID ONE END OF SAID HOUSING, THE RADIUS OF SAID COMB BEINGGREATER THAN THE RADIUS OF SAID BLADE SUPPORTING MEMBER, A BLADE HAVINGAN ARCUATE CUTTING EDGE SLIDABLY POSITIONED WITHIN EACH OF SAID SLOTS,THE CUTTING EDGE OF SAID BLADES HAVING A CURVATURE SUBSTANTIALLY EQUALTO THE CURVATURE OF SAID COMB AND BEING SPACED THEREFROM WHEN SAID BLADEIS RESTING IN SAID SLOT, AND A CONTINUATION OF EACH OF SAID SLOTS ATSUBSTANTIALLY RIGHT ANGLES THERETO, SAID CONTINUATION BEINGSUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT, AND AN EXTENSIONCONNECTED TO EACH OF SAID BLADES WHICH CONFORMS TO THE CONFIGURATION OFSAID CONTINUATION OF EACH OF SAID SLOTS.